Here is what you need to know to keep up to speed with today’s happenings.

Lecturers’ strike

Learning in all public universities across the country could today, October 29, 2024, be paralysed.

This is after University Academic Staff Union (UASU) on Monday, October 28, 2024, announced that it would officially begin its strike with effect from midnight.

UASU, while calling for the strike, said all their efforts to dialogue with the government failed to reach an agreement.

‘’I want to tell UASU members wherever they are, just work today up to midnight, after which you should down your tools,’’ the UASU Secretary General Constantine Wesonga urged.

‘’If  you have given a member 7 percent it will show, we are not dealing with illiterate people who don’t know how to calculate 7 and 4 percent so you cannot cheat them. You want UASU officials to be part of that manipulation, that one we will not do,’’ he added.

This comes barely a month after Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection Alfred Mutua announced an end to the lecturers’ strike that had disrupted learning in public universities in September.

Mutua stated that the involved parties had agreed to call off the strike following successful negotiations.

According to Mutua, the agreement was brokered between the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF), the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU), and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals, and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA).

KPSEA exams

Over 1.3 million Grade 6 pupils across Kenya will today continue with their Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) exams that kicked off on Monday, October 28, 2024.

This is the third cohort of learners under the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC), which was introduced to replace the traditional 8-4-4 system.

The KPSEA exams are set to end tomorrow, Wednesday, October 30, 2024.

They are designed to assess learners’ competencies in various subjects, aligning with CBC’s emphasis on practical skills, creativity, and critical thinking.

The national exams will evaluate key areas such as mathematics, English, Kiswahili, Science, and Creative arts.

The assessments will play a crucial role in determining students’ readiness to transition into Junior secondary schools.

Introduced in 2017, the CBC aimed to address the limitations of the 8-4-4 system by focusing more on the holistic development of learners rather than solely academic performance.

Corruption cases in court

Several graft cases are today set for hearing and mentions.

Among the cases set for mention at Milimani Anti-Corruption Court is the graft case involving Benjamin Obuya Njoga, former Deputy Commissioner General of Prisons, and 13 others.

They are charged with abuse of office, fraudulent acquisition of public property, and money laundering.

Allegations relate to embezzlement of Ksh302 million being payment for goods not supplied to the State Department for Correctional Services.

Another case set for mention today involves Henry Maritim Koech and 5 others, who are charged with conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption and deceiving principal.

Allegations relate to embezzlement of Ksh12.2 million for tenders for upgrading road construction within Nandi county awarded to Makiki Agencies Ltd.

The case will be mentioned at the Anti-Corruption Court in Eldoret.

Another case set for mention involves Jecinter Adoyo Hezron in a recovery suit for Ksh15.2 million against the accused who used forged academic certificates from University of Nairobi to secure employment at Commission of Revenue Allocation (CRA) as a senior analyst/Personal Assistant to the Chairperson for a period between August, 2017 and July, 2023.